ZincAboutIt

Lita shrugged, rather agreeing with the young woman on that first count. It was rather underwhelming, if one knew what went on in the Alleys. She'd barely just joined up, and even she realized that. The hijcaked emergency announcement, however, was quite intriguing. "Is anyone in this room going to mention the violent anarchist criminal and his two rogue companions who are, apparently, going to doom us all and 'restore the balance'?" Lita whispered. "Or are our hosts going to simply pretend that their slideshow isn't being overtaken by the emergency network, and continue to ask for funding?" She took a sip of wine, rolling her eyes. The Mastermind. It was all well and good to have a few aliases, but making up theatrical names for oneself was rather ridiculous, unless of course you could back them up. I've a feeling we'll all find out soon enough.

Renata watched the tower lean further and further towards them. "Get out of there!" She screamed toward the cellar, then bolted across the house and vaulted over what was left of a wall. Her feet hit dirt and she kept running, stopping only as a wave of dizziness struck her, causing her to stumble. Head wound, she thought, staggering and then sinking down. Bright spots appeared before her eyes, which she blinked rapidly, forcing them to stay open. Renata took a deep breath and turned, hand still clutching her sphere and notebook. She could see her dagger lying about ten feet away on the ground. "Almighty," she whispered, watching the tower begin to fall in earnest now.

Yes, I am outside.

Renata looked up from inspecting the corpse of a server, taking note of his horrified expression in her notebook. His was the third body she'd seen, and all of them had roughly the same expression. Something bothered her about the cohesiveness of this; death was horrifying, to be sure, and a collapsing house was certainly enough to cause this amount of terror. But the fact that this expression was so consistent disturbed her. For one thing, several of the servers had been crushed beneath pillars, beams, or sections of roofing. Renata would expect that at least some of them would bear expressions of pain, but there were none. Only this deep terror. Were they dead before the building collapsed? She thought, the idea sending a shiver down her spine. If so, what had killed them? The transfer to a new place? This definitely was a new place - the skyline bore no buildings, no twisting maze of Alleys and towers. Renata would have known even if she couldn't see the absence of the Alleycity; there was something in the air here, an oddness. She stood, turning in time to see Hellbent slashing his Shardblade at the walls of the twisting stone tower. "What are you doing?" She called in alarm, watching as the tall tower listed drunkenly beneath Hellbent's slashes. A light continued to flicker at the top. @Ark1002

Lita turned toward the unfamiliar woman, cocking her head. Another DA member? She thought. Likely yes, based on her choice of words. Who else would consider this kind of experimentation "boring"? "I'd wager there was rather less 'voluntary' cooperation than they indicate," she whispered back to the woman, smirking darkly. Lita gestured to a seat at their table. "Care to sit?" Lita tapped one finger against her lips, a little frown creasing her brow as she watched the woman on stage speak. She understood why PlasmaCore had invited the Great Guild representatives - powerful people had deep pockets. What she couldn't quite figure was why they'd invited everyone else. It was a great expense to host a party of this size, complete with food, wine, waitstaff. And for what? Why not pour the resources into a private gathering for Guild reps only? Lita observed the crowd down below watching the speaker with rapt attention, an itch forming between her shoulder blades. Why hadn't they consulted with the DA first? The amount of research the Alleys had produced was immense, beyond the scope of what anyone could do in a lifetime - in several lifetimes. Why not collaborate? Was it out of pride? And if so, whose pride?

Renata watched as Lizanne stood at the bottom of the stairs, length of rope in hand. Storm it, she thought, running a hand through her hair and drawing the hood of her coat up over her head. Renata slung her re-packed bag over both shoulders and pulled the straps tight, then slipped the dagger out of her boot again. She walked over to Lizanne and nodded to the woman, gritting her teeth, dagger in one hand, clearmark in the other. "Do it," she said. @Sorana

Lita turned up her tin as the lights dimmed for a second time. Someone new? She thought, looking at the woman onstage with a critical eye. "Come on," Lita whispered to Okame, giving his massive arm a light nudge toward their table. "I'd rather sit for this, who knows how long she'll talk for." She didn't wait for him, striding over to the table and taking a seat, slipping her pen out and twirling it under the tabletop, describing the new speaker in detail. You've got our attention, madam, she thought, excited at the prospect of uncovering this new set of secrets. Don't waste it. @Invocation

Renata looked up from her notebook, then squinted over at the wine racks. "Maybe we could repurpose part of one of those?"

Vivica walked briskly down an Alley, making some hasty notations in a spiral notebook. Her right hand left a little blood on the lined paper, which she observed with an irritated sigh. The initial forays into Ferretchemy had been so promising, but the Pewter ferrets had been growing more and more difficult to control. Thank goodness we didn’t start with bendalloy, she thought. Those ferrets were bendy enough. After two enterprising Pewter ferrets had bent the bars of their cages during her last observation shift, she’d had to put the whole lab on lockdown until their reserves ran out. Apparently the little hooks on their sleeping hammocks had been made of pewter, and they’d used them as temporary metalminds. Sloppy, Vivica thought, noting it down. Sloppy, sloppy. The rest of her team would not be pleased. Still lost halfway in thought, Vivica ran a finger along one wall and then stuck it into her mouth. Hmm, it’s probably daytime outside, she thought, then Alleytraveled to another Alley much closer to her rooms for a change of clothes. Her current set was rather covered in ferret. “Hello!” Came a cheerful voice near her head. Vivica glanced up to see what appeared to be a floating zucchini bobbing along in the air next to her, with two joyful eyes and a smiling mouth. She frowned a little, glancing around. Had she accidentally Alleytraveled to the Alley where they kept the incorporeal vegetables? No, no, that Alley had a blue floor. That left only one explanation. “I think you’re new,” Vivica said to the zucchini. “Have I seen you before?” She checked through her coppermind ring just to be sure, but nothing came up. “Ising with the be of Zook,” the zucchini chirped happily, “the Lord Squashborn.” Vivica blinked at the zucchini, then shrugged, filing this newest of hallucinations inside her coppermind alongside the rest. “I didn’t know I knew High Imperial,” she mused. “Ising of the we of the being of we going?” Zook said, keeping pace with her as she continued walking. “I was going to get changed, then finish up this report on the Pewter ferrets,” she answered. “Ising the sounding of boring,” said Zook, large childlike eyes blinking at her. “No, it’s proper scientific procedure,” Vivica scolded, raising her finger at the zucchini. “Ising with the be for hungry.” “That’s ridiculous, you’re a figment of my imagination.” “Ising with the you for the being for hungry.” Vivica sighed. She was a bit hungry, now that she thought of it. “Fine, we will go to one of the test kitchens. Then, I will finish the report.” Zook smiled wholesomely. Vivica made to travel to one of the large test kitchens for a cookie or two, but a sudden sneeze broke her concentration a bit. She looked around, seeming to be in one of the outer Alleys. Vivica felt her breath catch a little as thoughts of the city beyond filled her mind. So much space. So much room. A sudden sound interrupted her panic, and she ducked around the corridor to find an R&D member spiking a weeping man. Vivica relaxed at the comforting normalcy of the scene. “Ising with the being for that?” Zook said. “It’s rude to point,” Vivica said reproachfully. Zook, being a zucchini, had no arms or legs, but it sounded as though he would have pointed if he did have arms, and that was nearly as bad. “Hello!” She called to the two on the floor. “New volunteer?” @Fatebreaker @Gancho Libre

We are on some kind of shared wavelength with our character names. Lena, Lita, Vivica, Vivacia....

@Sorana I didn't realize you had a character named Vivi already, I'm more than happy to just have my new character go by her full name, it wouldn't be contrary to her character and I love the full name Vivica anyway so

Renata gave Hellbent a sidelong glance and quickly scratched out one of the tally-marks under the label "Meat."

"A lighteyed lady knows that words are her truest weapons, Talena." A brush moved through her hair, boar bristles catching slightly on the fine silk of her havah. Gold tracery spiraled out in a pattern of vines, echoed by the gold pins in her hair. The woman that was not her mother was humming a wordless tune, one of her favorites. Renata looked down, her left hand curling into a fist inside her glove. Now was no time for memories, no time for wavering. She ran a hand through her hair, cropped above her shoulders. She was no brightlady, she was a darkeyed scribe. A courier. Her mother was darkeyed too, and she was dead. Everyone is dead. Everyone but me. She pulled off her pack, squatting down and pulling out what she had inside, laying them down one by one: a waterskin - mostly full, six small packets full of rations, mostly jerky and flatbread, two clearmarks plus the one in her hand, and a few chips, a cooking knife, a small notebook, pencil and a small bottle of lacquer with a brush, and a long waterproof coat. That last one had been her most luxurious purchase, outside of her boots. The material was strange, some technology from another world, though the man who sold it to her claimed it would keep out rain and wind. He'd even poured water over it, and sure enough it slid right off. Renata shrugged the coat on, then opened her notebook and began a tally of the supplies.

Lita stopped short on her second circuit of the lower level of the room, looking at the newly-illuminated large screen behind the stage. She quickly relayed the message with her pen, then searched the crowd for Okame. The Horneater was still up on the representative platform, looming awkwardly. Laurelai still seemed preoccupied with her own objectives, and Lita didn't wish to interfere. Instead, she made her way back towards the platform, weaving through the party and catching a glimpse of the host disappearing out of the party room trailed by Lena and her companions from before. Curious, Lita thought, suppressing the urge to follow the group. Terrible idea, Lita. One of your worst. She was here to observe and report, not snoop around the back hallways of a secret commercial lab with zero reinforcement and combat experience. Instead, she twirled her pen, noting who was going where. When she finally reached to top platform she was a tad winded from all the steps. "Rusts, I clearly need to exercise a little more," she said under her breath, filling her brassminds to keep herself from flushing and sweating. "So," she said to Okame. "Apparently there is some mad criminal running amok in the city." As if there weren't enough of those already. @Invocation

Renata nodded at the Lighteyed woman. "She's right. The way this day has gone, who knows if this cellar will even be here if we leave it. We should catalog resources and figure out who we are and what we can do before we leave this place. And deal with any wounds that need binding." She looked over at Arun, who still had that glass shard sticking out of her leg. "That'll need to come out eventually." With a sigh, she went to the Shardbearer and shook his foot softly, not eager to scare him and receive a blade through the neck. "Wake up, storm you," she hissed at him. "You and that Blade are pretty much our only edge on whatever is out there." @Ark1002

Yes it does, at least sometimes. It doesn't eat them all at once at least, sort of feeds off them for a bit. So you're good to get captured, it won't kill you straight off.

Renata breathed a silent sigh of relief as the majority of the group stirred and sat up. Whatever was out there, she did not wish to face it alone. "I'm not sure what happened," she said, answering the question that everyone seemed to have. "It felt like we went into Shadesmar for a moment, but..." Renata gestured around at the cellar, which was conspicuously free of beads. "Not anymore." There was a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach as a possibility dawned on her. The Doctor had wanted to take them to a new realm, after all. "I think..." She faltered, tugging on her hair a little. "I think we might have traveled... someplace else."

Second try with a new character. More insanity, but less depression. Yay! Edit: forgot to tag a mod. At your leisure with this, no hurry @MacThorstenson

Renata spun quickly at the sound, squeezing her eyes shut at the sudden dizziness brought by the motion. "Kelek, you scared me," she whispered to Arun. "You're alive - that's three of us that I know of. Well, four, if you count Lizanne. I can't wake her." A sudden thought struck her, and she held the clearmark higher to get a better look around. She found the still form of the Shardbearer laying on the floor, but his blade was nowhere to be seen. Not dead, then, Renata thought, chewing her lip. Then she bent down, sliding her little knife back out of her boot where she'd stored it after finding it under a wine barrel. The motion felt strange, like it wasn't quite her hand holding the knife, not quite her body stepping towards the man's unconscious form. What am I doing? She thought, reality reasserting itself. Renata had no idea how to wield a Shardblade, and even if she did, was she really going to kill a man for it? She stuck her knife back into her boot sheath, glad the darkness hid her shameful blush. "Check the others," she said to Arun and Whilhelm, eager to distract herself. "If anyone's dead, bring everything they have to the center of the room. We need to take stock of our food and water." @Blessing of Potency @I think I am here.

Aldred raised his brows, considering this. "Not a bad idea," he said, looking over at the bear. Then he looked at Janim. "A glowing form would be excellent, by the way. Good thinking." @Chasmfiend#1 @Invocation

Renata cracked a smile at Wilhelm's joke, more to try and force a sense of normalcy than out of any real mirth. She had no idea who this "Sovereign" was. One of his gods, maybe? People here had all manner of pagan gods. Though, as she thought about it, Alleycity was in some kind of separate universe, wasn't it? Maybe she was the pagan one, now. Renata caught her hand moving against her thigh, tracing a glyphward against her own heretical thoughts. She stopped halfway through the glyph, shaking her hand. Foolish. No one is listening here. No one is watching. We're on our own. "But now that it is gone from here, I wonder...” Wilhelm looked to the closed cellar. “If it is gone from there?” Renata followed his gaze up the stairs. There was a dull light filtering through the crack beneath the door, but no mist. Good or bad? She shrugged. One thing at a time. "Let's see if anyone else is alive, first. You don't happen to know field surgery, do you? I can bind a wound and stitch well enough, but more than that will be guesswork." Renata moved towards one of the nearest figures - Lizanne, the girl with the limp. She held two fingers gently against her throat, then shook her shoulder softly when she felt a pulse. @I think I am here. @Sorana

"What was that?" asked a voice - the man in all the coats, the one with only one eye. Renata glanced at him just in time to see him peer oddly at one of the unconscious forms on the ground. Almost like... Renata shook her head a little. That was a ridiculous thought. "I don't know," she said quietly, stepping carefully over the forms of some of the others, and avoiding puddles of spilled wine. "Felt like a Highstorm, only I've never seen mist in a Highstorm. Or...beads." Shadesmar. She'd seen plenty of those beads in Shadesmar. Renata shivered a little, glancing up at the door, which had remained closed. "Are you hurt?" She asked the man. "I'm Renata, by the way. Don't think I caught your name." @I think I am here.